WEST LIBERTY, Ia. — Butch Pedersen’s words matter in Iowa high school football. West Branch’s 34-year head coach boasts three state titles and an absurd 24 state playoff berths — including nine straight.

When he talks, you listen.

Like last week, when — completely unprompted — Pedersen lauded his Week 1 opponent, West Liberty.

"Going to be one of the best 2A schools in the state," he said. "They have a tremendous football team and should be very, very deep into the playoffs. They’re very, very good; very, very talented.

"This is West Liberty’s year."

Pedersen's not the only one with that opinion. The Comets are getting preseason buzz as a Class 2A dark horse. Fresh off their first winning season since 2012, they return 85 percent of their offensive production. On defense, they return seven of their top 10 tacklers and five of their top six defensive backs. Altogether, West Liberty’s got a real shot at its first state playoffs in five years.

"This definitely is our year," said Spencer Daufeldt, a reigning All-Iowa defensive lineman. "We have so many talented guys on our roster. We expect to make it there.

"It feels like we know how to win and we know what it feels like now. So we want to taste that more and more."

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West Liberty linemen run drills during practice on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017. (Photo: David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Let’s look at the defense first.

Daufeldt (6 feet, 255 pounds) is so strong that he tore a bone chip off his pelvis because he literally swung a baseball bat too hard early this summer. Jackson Gingerich (6-1, 190) is a player to watch at middle linebacker. Nobody will outrun cornerback Tanner Iske, the heir-apparent to the Class 3A 100-meter throne; he led the team with three interceptions last year. Joe Kelly, a 2018 wrestling favorite at 152 pounds, led the team with 48.5 tackles last year and can play at all three levels of the defense.

Those four will play big roles on offense, too — Daufeldt on the line, Gingerich at tight end, and Iske and Kelly as tailbacks/receivers/do-it-all guys.

But quarterback Seth Feldman (6-3, 175) is the biggest key for the potentially explosive unit. After assuming the starting job in Week 2, Feldman, then a sophomore, completed 91 of 167 passes for 1,016 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s bigger than he was in 2016 and has particularly improved his pocket footwork — in no small part thanks to summer camp sessions at Iowa and Northwestern.

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West Liberty quarterback Seth Feldman throws down field during practice on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017. (Photo: David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

Small schools "on the coast" have started reaching out to the junior signal-caller who'll captain West Liberty’s run-pass, read-option offense.

"I love making reads; it’s a lot of fun," Feldman said with a smile. "(Head coach Jason) Iske said I had the training pedals on last year and he’s taking them off this year, so there’s a lot to soak in. But I think I can do it.

"I just want to win. That’s all I want. I want to make it as far as we can in the playoffs."

But to employ a well-used cliche … talk is cheap. West Liberty plays in a stacked district, and Mount Vernon and Williamsburg sit up top. The Comets lost 36-14 to Williamsburg and 56-25 to Mount Vernon in 2016.

West Liberty's Tanner Iske waits for play to resume during practice on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017. (Photo: David Scrivner/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

"We know we have to dethrone those guys to get to the playoffs," Tanner Iske said.

Added Jason Iske: "That’s the way I’m looking at it: We can’t even think about making state or making a run at state if we can’t get past those guys. But even before that, I’m not sleeping on anybody in our district."

West Liberty opens the 2017 campaign on Aug. 25, against West Branch, in the Little Rose Bowl. The team travels to Williamsburg on Oct. 6 and hosts Mount Vernon the following Friday.

Matthew Bain covers preps, recruiting and the Hawkeyes for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, The Des Moines Register and HawkCentral. Contact him at mbain@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @MatthewBain_.